Overview of Key Features
- Client: Taiyo Coffee (Tanimachi, Chuo Ward, Osaka City; an in-house coffee roaster founded in 1959)
- Project Scope: Urgent redesign of an outdated website and e-commerce system
- Scope of Work: Requirements gathering, system design, design, coding, e-commerce development, and SEO optimization
- Key Production Points: Architecture designed to minimize maintenance burden / Isolation of personal information risks / Design built to last 10 years
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Taiyo Coffee is an in-house coffee roastery that has been in business since 1959 in Tanimachi, Chuo Ward, Osaka City.They offer a wide variety of beans, including Blue Mountain No. 1, Bourbon Amarelo, and organically grown beans from East Timor, and they also provide custom roasting to suit customers’ preferences as well as coffee gift sets. Their roasting techniques, honed over many years, and their meticulous approach to bean selection are the reasons they have such a loyal following.
A Sudden Crisis: The Production Company’s Closure and the Risk of Data Loss
By the time we were consulted, the situation was already critical. The web design company they had previously contracted with had ceased operations, and all data except for the domain had been lost. We had to start from scratch, with the website on the verge of disappearing at any moment.
As we investigated further, the situation proved even more serious. WordPress itself, the plugins, PHP, and the database—everything was still running on outdated versions.It was nothing short of a miracle that the site was still functioning at all. Moreover, the online store system—which handles personal information—was running right on top of that vulnerable server. They didn’t even have access to the admin panel, so Taiyo Coffee themselves didn’t have an accurate understanding of the state of their own site.
“By the time we realized it, we had no choice but to take action.”
This redesign began with that emergency response.
Policy: The Design Philosophy of a “Website That Will Last 10 Years”
Given this situation,Kototsuki Designadopted the concept of a “website that will last 10 years” as the core of this project.Rather than adding flashy features, our first priority was to create a robust structure that minimizes the burden of system updates. Next, we aimed for a design that would stand the test of time and not be swayed by fleeting trends. Finally, we ensured that Taiyo Coffee could easily edit their product pages themselves without any hassle. These three principles served as our guiding criteria from start to finish.
Design and System: Modern Retro and Sustainable Operation
Rather than chasing the latest flashy trends, we developed a “modern retro” design aesthetic that reflects the shop’s history and warmth. This approach aligns directly with Taiyo Coffee’s inherent brand image.
On the systems side, we prioritized sustainable operation above all else. We adopted “microCMS” for content management, minimizing the need for ongoing maintenance and updates typically required by platforms like WordPress. This significantly reduces the effort required for security management—which often demands specialized knowledge—while maintaining the ease of daily updates.
For the e-commerce system, we adopted “BASE,” a platform that does not maintain its own database. This eliminates the risk of customer information accumulating on outdated servers, as was the case previously, and we’ve transitioned to a structure where payment processing and personal information management are entrusted to a trusted third-party platform. This system allows both Taiyo Coffee and us to focus on operations without having to directly handle personal information.
In addition, we have implemented structured markup using JSON-LD on product pages and optimized SEO from the internal structure to ensure that prices and product details are displayed correctly in Google search results.
From a business management perspective
How does this initiative look when viewed not as a technical matter, but from a business perspective? The greatest crisis was that the development company went out of business and became uncontactable. This meant that the very lifeline of our business was entirely in the hands of someone else.
Furthermore, this crisis actually represents a risk that “the same thing could happen once every few years.” Do we keep searching for a new development company every few years and rebuilding everything from scratch? Or do we design the system properly once and maintain a partnership for decades? The choice we made this time was also a crossroads.
Feedback After the Redesign
Since its launch, the website has become a space that more clearly conveys the “essence of Taiyo Coffee.” The revamped product pages began generating traffic immediately after launch and have yielded positive responses that have led to actual sales.
It’s actually not uncommon for long-established businesses to face issues such as “being unable to contact their web development agency” or “security concerns due to an outdated system.” If you’re a business or shop facing similar challenges, please feel free to contact us for a consultation.
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